We've been here for 3 months and a few days now and it has gone from 100 degree days (with no humidity) to nights in the 30's. Apparently this is the longest summer they have had in years, but we have been warned that this probably means we are in for a vicious winter! YIKES! 4th of July, I was outside in a sweatshirt, sweatpants and a blanket... I'm going to die a slow, frozen death here! I mean for Christ's sake the forecast for the rest of the week is ridiculous. It was 80 degrees here today and by tomorrow night we could have snow! I thought the saying in NC "if you don't like the weather here, wait an hour and it'll change" was crazy but, this is outrageous.
Since we settled we have had some visitors from the east; Kimber and Trent (two of our closest friends) were in Colorado for a portion of the summer for Kimber's internship. Julie, Derek, and Thomas (Jonathan's parent's and brother) and Bryan (another of my closest friends) came out to see us.
We have done a fair amount of venturing out and about and have made a lot of new friends. The zoo in Denver is really cool, and the wildlife here never ceases to amaze me. We have seen elk, antelope, chipmunks, prairie dogs, moose and buffalo. Jonathan got his certification to go hunting, and his first ambition is an elk. He and the neighbor across the street are such nerds always planning and chatting up their plans. It's actually funny how invested they are. All of our neighbors are great and the people with whom Jonathan work couldn't be nicer (except for that one guy who is totally creepy but that's a whole other story). We stayed busy for the summer exploring and getting comfortable with the area and then once school started we literally hit the ground running. Between cub scouts, my new job, faith formation classes, and Jonathan's (and my) commitment to the Navy we haven't even slowed down for a minute! It's been amazing but it's starting to slow down and become a smooth routine which as most of you know is still VERY hectic for us!
The boys love their new school, the classes are small with about 15-20 per class and the school itself is tiny. It's a K-3 2 section school--which means only 2 classes per grade. The whole school is the size of the Kindergarten and half of the 1st grade at Bellamy. Their teachers are amazing, and I was surprised to find that the school requirements were higher here than in NC. The teachers here are not impressed with the Common Core because it will lower the expectations, which from what I understood is the other way around in New Hanover County. Granted I'm no teacher but as a parent that's the impression that I'm getting. Mrs. Cook is Parker's teacher and he couldn't have been luckier to have her. She is on par with Mrs. Olson and Mrs. Morton (Parker's Pre-K teachers) with her experience and completely perfect methods. Parker was most impressed with the fact that if no one "moves their stick"(gets in trouble) she does a hand stand for them. Every morning they all walk around the class singing "Welcome to school today, welcome to school today, we're so glad you're here" and they all give her high-fives and hugs as they pass her. It's so stinkin' cute that I tear up nearly every time I see it.
Nick's teacher is also a slam dunk. She's a younger no-nonsense teacher who demands respect and responsibility. It is so amazing to see kids performing at such a high level from the start in 2nd grade. These kids really take her seriously. She is patient but at the same time she really has them in line. Nick strives to do well because he wants her to be proud, something that I really enjoy seeing. 
I started working for a law-firm about 6 weeks ago doing their filing and other organizing tasks and office work. I completely make my own hours and they are super flexible. It is an amazing job. It's absolutely perfect for the OCD freak of nature in me. The people with whom I work could not be more amazing. The paralegal, Christen is awesome. She does roller-derby (which scares the hell out of me) and is smarter than the majority of people I know. Abbi and her dad Pat are the lawyers and they are incredible. The majority of cases that we have are what I call "good cause cases." I love that the people that I work for have such kind hearts. Jonathan--well his stuff is the same old boring stuff that he's always been doing :) LOL.. except not really! For once he has a regular job!! The kind where he can come home and enjoy home and work at the same time! We have added two new members Grace and Gruffalo, our two kitties and they are both absolutely insane! I think they were both dogs in their former lives~right down to the drinking out of the toilet. (I will add pictures on the next post... I had a hard time getting these ones to do what I want) 
